July 3, Yellowstone National Park

 

Day Six, July 3.

 

Old Faithful, Madison, Norris loop. I think we left here around 7:45? 8? Whatever, to get to OF before a ton of the crowds did. We all brought our dogs, and we were worried at first because the parking lot was warm and a little sunny at first, and not a lot of shade. We wandered around the visitor center and lodge for about 45 minutes, then went back to the truck parked in bumble-fuck Egypt and got our dogs. Luna was fine in their truck, more in the shade. And by then it had gotten overcast, so they were all really fine anyway. But still. Lili and Buddy had a really great time, I think, meeting lots of people, avoiding other dogs, and seeing their first geyser erupt (they didn’t care about it nearly as much as we did). We had to hang out in the outer ring due to dogs generally being silly and sometimes trying to walk off of boardwalks. So we kept them safe and sat on a log in the outer ring, further from the geyser. Okay with that. Such crowds of people!

 

Thought we’d do lunch there afterward, but the geyser was done at about 11 and the cafeteria didn’t open till 11:30. Found a hilarious typo on their menu board, “Gryos” instead of “Gyros,” which were spelled correctly in the menu items but not in the header. Ah well. Survived on peanut butter pretzel nuggets and chocolate covered raisins and fizzy water.

 

By the way, the lodge at Old Faithful is always amazing and worth going into, and maybe someday we’ll shell out the cash to stay there. It wasn't quite like I remembered it, but it is a neat design, rustic, and so darned big. I’m liking the camping experience more, and we have better control over the quality of the food and the rest of our experience. The new visitor center is really beautiful, in and out. Great interactive exhibits in there for young and old alike. Only five stalls of restrooms for the ladies, however. But there was a water-filling station, so they might be forgiven.

 

So. After we'd seen the big geyser erupt, we enjoyed some fizzy water and some snacks. Hunger mostly slaked, we decided to continue on to Madison Junction, trying to see the Great Prismatic Spring and whatever other mischief we found ourselves in.

 

Well. Great Prismatic Spring was hell to get into – lots of cars parked along the side of the road where we thought it was located. Jim quick grabbed a parking spot on the side of the road and we started walking. Then we found the parking lot. It was jammed. Then we found the trail. Lots of people coming and going. And we walked. And walked, and walked and walked some more. Holy shit, where is this damned thing anyway? Then we came closer to it, kind of up over a rise, and we could see the steam from the spring. You could see the colors of the spring IN the steam – orange and blue, reflected in the steam kinda like a rainbow.

 

Then the path forked, one went up and one went more flat. I was dying for more flat, since my boots are SO comfy in the footbed but hell on my left ankle. Those boots were fine yesterday, what's the deal? Maybe I’m just swollen. Found out from a passerby that the high path takes you to an overlook, and the other path takes you to a path at ground level with the spring, that the view was better from up high. And they were right. But it was steep and hot and stupid and we did it and it was a better trip because it was hard-won. There were a million people up there, but we took our photos and got the heck out of there because the dogs were in the car. All told, it took a little over 45 minutes to walk up there and back. It was long. I don’t have to see it again from that vantage point. But I’m glad we did it.

 

We were amazed (but not surprised, it’s July 4 week) at the number of cars headed southbound who were slowed up/backed up to maybe get to the spring or just get through. We kinda decided right then that we needed to go through Canyon/Norris/Madison to get to the west gate tomorrow when we leave. Will be less for folks to see so theoretically easier for us to travel through. Might stop at Canyon so Charlie can see the brink of the falls, if we have room to pull over.

 

After the prismatic spring, we did the one-way, one-lane drive on Firehole Canyon to see the falls. Worth It. Really beautiful, and a unique way to see the union of two lava flows. Lovely falls.

 

Then we moseyed on and saw Gibbon(s) Falls. That parking was hilarious. The lot was full, so we picked a spot on the side of the road. Our truck was leaning to passenger side quite a bit, but not terrible. Right behind us pulled in a Class C RV, which was leaning HARD to starboard as we were standing there. Idiot us, if we’d been standing there as it rolled over, we’d be flat. Ugh.

Anyway, a cool 83-foot falls that literally runs over the edge of the caldera. Also two different hunks of rock, one eroded and one not so eroded on either side of the canyon. And while we were there, it sleeted on us. Cold, fat drops of “rain” that looked like flat bits of ice on our sleeves. But momentary. It’s been like that all day, little bits of some kind of precipitation. They got snow here in camp today, and around 8 p.m. or so we got a little hail.

 

Got back to camp maybe around 3 p.m. and sat for a beer. Made the boy crush cans (he didn’t seem to mind). Then P&D came back from laundry. They sat with us for a while, as it was trying to rain some more. Then we went to the visitors’ lodge nearby to see what that was about. Had a great view of the lake and maybe a faraway bear or bison sighting. They stopped for gas on the way back, and then we came back to camp.

 

Jim and I made this amazing chicken-thigh thing with soy and oyster sauce, green onions and some peppers we had in the fridge. Rice and done and OMG it was amazing. Especially since lunch was so paltry. Good to eat good food.

 

We’ve both had a shower and feel like new people. Enjoying our gin and tonics and I’m in my Honcho Poncho as I write, watching Jim brush Buddy as Bud tries to sleep through it. Pulled off a good cup’s worth of fur. And he is so soft. I am so proud of these dogs; they have been so good and patient with this whole trip. Today they so loved getting pets from all the people who wanted to pet them. Lili was great in paying attention to me and getting treats for it. Buddy growled at a couple of dogs, but distance makes it better. The worst is when Lili manspreads across the back seat of the truck and leaves Bud NO room back there. We tried to put a bolster back there to separate them, but then she just used the pillow for her head. Ugh. Stronger measures are necessary.

Wheels up at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. See how that goes. We are headed to Arco, ID, where Craters of the Moon is. Never been before. Will stop somewhere to shop for groceries. Lord help us, we don’t need booze.

 

It’s been 6 days on the trail. I like the longer stays, where we don’t have to pack it all up and move it down the road. Or if I expect it, I’m okay with a one-nighter, kind of a turn-and-burn. It’s good to settle into a place for a few days, meet the neighbors, hear their stories. I’ve been pleased at the camping camaraderie we’ve found. Several Airstreamers are here, and they’ve been nice. But so have other campers in other rigs, like the folks from San Diego with their two kids who wanted to see inside our trailer and who fell in love with our chick-bait dog. And our next-door neighbor from Lauderdale, who, when he heard we needed a phone to call Spearfish, said we could use his phone. We used the ranger’s phone to call them, but wasn’t that so sweet!? I hope he gets his mixing valve fixed, had a hard time with hot water.

 

By the way, the sewer hookups here are all higher than they need to be, and some folks have NO idea how to run their hoses in a straight line from their trailer. Blergh. We’re going to dump at the dump station as opposed to trying to dump here on the site. [Actually, no, we changed our minds, managed to dump at the campsite rather than in the ranger station area. Wasn’t that bad, calm down. Just hadn't used a hookup like that before.]

 

I have been happy to be off the grid, no connection to cell. But I kinda can’t wait for connectivity again, just even basic texting will be nice.

 

[Side note: On July 4, as we left Yellowstone, right about the time we got near the Canyon visitors’ center, we got a squawky announcement on our phones that there had been a “significant law enforcement incident” and that it was presumed to be “no further danger to the public.” What the? Days later D texted us some screenshots of a story that told of a person who had held a woman against her will and then later shot up the place at Canyon. So for that I’m glad we didn’t stay longer in Yellowstone. Though in hindsight, gunshots aside, there were otherwise no fireworks in camp like there were at Arco…]